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God has cured HIV with his son on the cross. You just refuse to take the medicine. .....The priest talk is a little old I am very much over it. I am catholic because of the Sacraments not because of some bad priest. I am there to try and make it better. There are problems every were. The Church handled the issue wrong, but I am not leaving the Sacraments. I love the Church.

Matty once again you and your Science will never prove there is no God. Heck, in a case of an Atheist you might want them to focus on better medication to keep you alive. They might want to figure out the terminal illness we all have in ageing. Jesus has already cured that one.

I find this wrong in every aspect and I throw down the gauntlet (very medieval) PROVE to me God exists!!

Edited to add: having been that road years ago you won't be pulling the wool over my eyes easily

Prove to me He doesn't exist. I have nature and the appreciation for my surroundings and believe that a higher power created it. I believe God is in all matter and do not think this was just a coincidence. That's my proof that God exists. Prove to me that He didn't create the first Atom. Prove to me that He wasn't here before time. Good luck.

Don't be upset with God because of Religion. God goes beyond Religion and Science. We can not comprehend God.

Logged

Atheist don't believe in GOD, but GOD believes in them and loves them. Never let the failure of man conflict with your love of GOD.

Prove to me He doesn't exist. I have nature and the appreciation for my surroundings and believe that a higher power created it. I believe God is in all matter and do not think this was just a coincidence. That's my proof that God exists. Prove to me that He didn't create the first Atom. Prove to me that He wasn't here before time. Good luck.

Don't be upset with God because of Religion. God goes beyond Religion and Science. We can not comprehend God. [/Come on you can do better than that

Calling someone a heathen is judging them and could be looked at as "bullying" them. Are you calling Athiests heathens ?.....I just wanted to clarify.

Oh goody, semantic gymnastics. With the exception of you, my comment was in reference to the folks posting in this thread. We have known each other for years and we all share our deepest, darkest secrets. I love man sex and because of that, your church calls me deviant. I can therefore, be nothing but a heathen in the eyes of your church, because I do not accept their faith and I cannot afford $3,000 Prada slippers. Ergo, I am a heathen and it is a title that I wear proudly, if it means to be free from unwanted opinions being shoved down my throat. But I will not ask that you take my word for it, ask the members themselves.

OK folks, which one of you considers yourself to be a heathen? Can I see a show of posts? Please.

Oh goody, semantic gymnastics. With the exception of you, my comment was in reference to the folks posting in this thread. We have known each other for years and we all share our deepest, darkest secrets. I love man sex and because of that, your church calls me deviant. I can therefore, be nothing but a heathen in the eyes of your church, because I do not accept their faith and I cannot afford $3,000 Prada slippers. Ergo, I am a heathen and it is a title that I wear proudly, if it means to be free from unwanted opinions being shoved down my throat. But I will not ask that you take my word for it, ask the members themselves.

OK folks, which one of you considers yourself to be a heathen? Can I see a show of posts? Please.

Thanks for clarifying that. I bet we could take up a collection to get you those Prada shoes. I personally like Burberry and Louis Vuitton.

I don't think the Church hates you as much as you want the Church to hate you. That just my personal opinion.

Last post to you and I apologize for the hijack, but you have no concept on how I know your church despises me. The words were spoken to me, by priests and archbishops, so don't even try to tell me what I know. I'm logging now, before I tell you what I really think of you and your religion.

I don't fear your words. I only want to understand your pain. God Loves you. I have no reason not to love you. I am sorry that man has upset you. I apologize for that. I hope you find your peace and the ability to forgive. With out forgiveness we are all scared and unable to move past our pain.

I wish you the best my friend and brother. Peace be with you.

Logged

Atheist don't believe in GOD, but GOD believes in them and loves them. Never let the failure of man conflict with your love of GOD.

Can we please return to the OP? If you want to hold bible study, please start your own thread. Any further hi-jacking is unwarranted and to me, just another form of bullying. Nobody asked you about your faith, we are talking about atheists here and just because your religion cannot tolerate scrutiny, does not mean you get to derail our thread. Nobody asked you to defend anything, so if you don't have something to say, in support of the OP...

In the absence of chapter 3 of Matty's book, I was rather enjoying the little duel between Matty & Mystery

To fully understand the power of Jesus words “take up thy cross” we must first examine what he is not saying.

And here's the rub, dude. No proof positive there WAS a Jesus. No proof that he ever said those words, which were not even written down until a century or more ofter his supposed death. No proof that King James did not transcribe those words himself as he presided over the current version of the Bible. No proof that the version King James had created was, or is, the inerrant word of God. No proof even that there IS a God.

In order to discuss or debate religious text for content and meaning, we would have to agree on at least one of those things.

As I see it, having the conversation would mean agreeing that the divinity of King James is at least as credible as any of the people who collaborated on the Gospels.

See, I drive to North Carolina from time to time. And I hate the monotony of the radio. So I bone up on unabridged historical texts on CD to pass the time. I found several enlightening books on Biblical history, along with much of Christopher Hitchens' work to be especially fun.

There is more concrete evidence to have a rational, evenly matched discussion of Spock's assertion that the needs of the many outweigh the needs of the few, or the one - and of Kirk's repeated and passionate rebuttal to that assertion.

I prefer my fiction with a touch less of the judgy.

Logged

"Many people, especially in the gay community, turn to oral sex as a safer alternative in the age of AIDS. And with HIV rates rising, people need to remember that oral sex is safer sex. It's a reasonable alternative."

Today, the American Humanist Association is launching the largest atheist ad campaign in history. It challenges Biblical morality and fundamentalist Christianity and it’s bound to get a lot of attention.

There will be a TV commercial during Dateline NBC this Friday night.

There will be billboards in Idaho and Philadelphia and bus ads in Washington D.C., Chicago, Los Angeles, and San Francisco.

There will be ads on cable TV, ads in magazines like Reason and The Progressive, and ads in newspapers in places like USA Today, the Seattle Times, and the Village Voice all “demonstrating that secular humanist values are consistent with mainstream America and that fundamentalist religion has no right to claim the moral high ground.”

Here are some of the new print ads. I think they are MUCH better than the creepy chick with cookies.

Are you my former partner who now has AIDS and got married to a woman, because he got ultra-religious after getting AIDS? You sound just like him. I can't have a normal conversation with him, because he is always preaching to me.

Matty, could you feed me answers as I have religious debates with my "sister-in-law"? When I get flustered, my mind goes blank and I can't put up a good debate. I would love to have you debate her for me. I admire your debating skills, telling it like it is, or whatever you call it.

Raped, yes. I was raped by a priest. If he was cute I wouldn't complain.

So in graphic detail...here it goes.

I was 13 and working in the front office in the church (yes, they recruited young boys to work for them and not make minimage wage.). I was called up to Father's room to help him move some shit around. His towel happened to fall down when I walked in. From that point he tried to get to touch me and such in the name of god. At the end of the day a load shot down my throat and I thought about killing myself. The whole time this was happening that super model Jesus was winking.

So fuck him...she could have at least winked at me and said "it will get better' I mean that is trendy now.

Lol, yes. although he is not half bad looking, I've seen worse. She on the other hand...well, you know.

Perhaps he was doing charity work that weekend, you know a "sympathy" hook-up.

-Will

Ok, first off, this isn't a warning and Willy, I'm not specifically singling you out per se, it's just that yours was a post that would easily make it clear what I'm ranting about.

Because yes, this is a rant, though not an official one. It's just my opinion as a member of this website.

I find it distasteful in the extreme that some are making fun of how this young woman looks. Has it never occurred to any of you that her looks are quite likely the result of a congenital disorder?

At least she's socialising with a smile on her face, instead of hiding in a closet because of a medical condition.

And the fact that this crap went on in a thread where some humanist/atheists are trying to convince others that they are just as moral/compassionate/whatever as any religious type makes me shake my head. Think on, people! Sheesh!

PS - speaking of that old adage of "do unto others....." Unbefuckinglievable.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

Ann's absolutely spot on with this. Making fun of people because they was born with a smooshed in face is not cool. I am a bad man, but not an athiest or a humanist, so I guess I should extend an apology of sorts for influencing you guys. I am sorry. I will fix this. I fix everything. Ask my wife about the burnt lasagna the other night, she'll tell you. Skeebo is the shit. So now I will fix this.

Ann's absolutely spot on with this. Making fun of people because they was born with a smooshed in face is not cool. I am a bad man, but not an athiest or a humanist, so I guess I should extend an apology of sorts for influencing you guys. I am sorry. I will fix this. I fix everything. Ask my wife about the burnt lasagna the other night, she'll tell you. Skeebo is the shit. So now I will fix this.

And how is that better? She's obviously accepted who she is and what she looks like, why can't you? You've just made it 100 times worse.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I may have not made it better for her, but I definitely made it a lot better for him. You're right, I shouldn't do this kind of stuff. If there was a God I would love her like a sister, but since there is not I can certainly laugh from afar without fear of a lightning bolt striking me through my window. Hmmmmm, or can I? Don't hurt me Ann....

If there was a God I would love her like a sister, but since there is not I can certainly laugh from afar without fear of a lightning bolt striking me through my window. Hmmmmm, or can I?

It's not about love, it's about simple respect for a fellow human being. When you make fun of someone because of how they were born to look, it's no different to making fun of someone because of who they were born to love. Or what colour their skin happens to be. Get my drift?

I'm all for poking fun at someone who looks different due to a factor they have control over, such as their hairstyle, fashion sense, fake-tan, make-up or medically unnecessary plastic surgery, but how they look because of an accident of birth? That's just mean and hurtful.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I forgot to address this. How would you feel if, for instance, you had KS lesions on your face and someone posted a photo of you on some internet forum for the sole purpose of making fun of you? That's why I said that people who live with glass medical conditions shouldn't throw stones. I said nothing about houses.

"...health will finally be seen not as a blessing to be wished for, but as a human right to be fought for." Kofi Annan

Nymphomaniac: a woman as obsessed with sex as an average man. Mignon McLaughlin

HIV is certainly character-building. It's made me see all of the shallow things we cling to, like ego and vanity. Of course, I'd rather have a few more T-cells and a little less character. Randy Shilts

I forgot to address this. How would you feel if, for instance, you had KS lesions on your face and someone posted a photo of you on some internet forum for the sole purpose of making fun of you? That's why I said that people who live with glass medical conditions shouldn't throw stones. I said nothing about houses.

Yes, folks, this kind of shit really makes my blood boil.

In all honesty Ann, it wouldn't bother me at all.

I am sorry this makes your blood boil, and I obviously was the cause of it. If you don't want to accept my apology then there is nothing left for me to do. It was purely a joke, a picture simply pulled off google under the title of "funny looking couples".

Funny, what I initially typed was "...seriously cute, although he does need to do something about the pimples" and then "...cute, despite the pimples"; then, considering the protest that has just been made against commentary on people's physical defects, I decided to omit reference to the pimples altogether.

I have to agree with Ann on this one. My sister in Arizona is a respite worker for the state, so she takes care of special needs children in her home. Her own stepson is severely mentally disabled, has severe cerebral palsy, and is blind. He does, however, smile very big, when someone sings a tune to him. When I visited out there awhile back, we took him, along with the special needs girl my sister was taking care of, to a kid's museum. I can't begin to tell you how disgusted I was with the humanity of people, when they would glare at him, then whisper to each other. This child, with all his disabilities, will actually break out in a huge smile when someone pays the smallest attention to him. Most people couldn't be satisfied with such. It was a cruel picture to post, to make fun of someone who has no control over how she looks. What's next?

Logged

I've never killed anyone, but I frequently get satisfaction reading the obituary notices.-Clarence Darrow

"I have tried hard--but life is difficult, and I am a very useless person. I can hardly be said to have an independent existence. I was just a screw or a cog in the great machine I called life, and when I dropped out of it I found I was of no use anywhere else."